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Updated: Aug 5, 2026
12:36
Genomic MRI - a Public Resource for Studying Sequence Patterns within Genomic DNA
Published on: May 9, 2011
Scale-invariant structure of strongly conserved sequence in genomic intersections and alignments
William Salerno1, Paul Havlak, Jonathan Miller
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Summary
Perfectly conserved sequences in mouse and human genomes show a power-law distribution. These findings highlight the importance of functional noncoding sequences in genome evolution and conservation analysis.
Area of Science:
- Comparative genomics
- Bioinformatics
- Evolutionary biology
Background:
- Genome-wide sequence conservation analysis reveals patterns of evolutionary pressure.
- Understanding the distribution and correlation of conserved elements is crucial for identifying functional genomic regions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the distribution and spatial correlations of perfectly conserved sequences between mouse and human genomes.
- To investigate the role of functional noncoding sequences in observed conservation patterns.
- To refine statistical methods for assessing sequence conservation significance.
Main Methods:
- Whole-genome intersection and alignment of mouse and human genomes.
- Analysis of power-law distributions for conserved sequence lengths.
- Study of spatial correlations of conserved elements within the mouse genome.
Main Results:
- A power-law distribution was observed for the lengths of perfectly conserved sequences.
- Spatial correlations among these conserved elements within the mouse genome were identified.
- Functional noncoding sequences were found to contribute to these distributions and correlations.
Conclusions:
- The observed power-law distributions and correlations are partly explained by functional noncoding sequences.
- These findings necessitate accounting for noncoding elements when evaluating statistical significance of sequence conservation.
- The study provides context for inter-genomic conservation patterns relative to intra-genomic correlations, suggesting further research into their origins and implications.
Related Concept Videos
02:51Multi-species Conserved Sequences
Next-generation sequencing technologies have created large genomic databases of a variety of animals and plants. Ever since the human genome project was completed, scientists studied the genome of primates, mammals, and other phylogenetically distant living beings. Such large-scale studies have provided new insights into the evolutionary relationship between organisms.
Although the genome of each species varies greatly from each other, a few sequences are highly conserved. Such conserved DNA...
Although the genome of each species varies greatly from each other, a few sequences are highly conserved. Such conserved DNA...
02:26Conservation of Protein Domains Over Different Proteins
Protein domains are small structurally independent units that are part of a single amino acid chain. Although these domains are often structurally independent, they may rely on synergistic effects to perform their functions as part of a larger protein. Protein domains may be conserved within the same organism, as well as across different organisms.
A limited set of protein domains often duplicate and recombine during evolution. These domains can be organized in different combinations to form...
A limited set of protein domains often duplicate and recombine during evolution. These domains can be organized in different combinations to form...
01:49Conserved Binding Sites
Many proteins’ biological role depends on their interactions with their ligands, small molecules that bind to specific locations on the protein known as ligand-binding sites. Ligand-binding sites are often conserved among homologous proteins as these sites are critical for protein function.
Binding sites are often located in large pockets, and if their location on a protein’s surface is unknown, it can be predicted using various approaches. The energetic method computationally analyses the...
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01:49Conserved Binding Sites
Many proteins’ biological role depends on their interactions with their ligands, small molecules that bind to specific locations on the protein known as ligand-binding sites. Ligand-binding sites are often conserved among homologous proteins as these sites are critical for protein function.
Binding sites are often located in large pockets, and if their location on a protein’s surface is unknown, it can be predicted using various approaches. The energetic method computationally analyses the...
Binding sites are often located in large pockets, and if their location on a protein’s surface is unknown, it can be predicted using various approaches. The energetic method computationally analyses the...
02:26Conservation of Protein Domains
Protein domains are small structurally independent units that are part of a single amino acid chain. Although these domains are often structurally independent, they may rely on synergistic effects to perform their functions as part of a larger protein. Protein domains may be conserved within the same organism, as well as across different organisms.
A limited set of protein domains often duplicate and recombine during evolution. These domains can be organized in different combinations to form...
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02:54Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Genome comparison is one of the excellent ways to interpret the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The basic principle of genome comparison is that if two species share a common feature, it is likely encoded by the DNA sequence conserved between both species. The advent of genome sequencing technologies in the late 20th century enabled scientists to understand the concept of conservation of domains between species and helped them to deduce evolutionary relationships across diverse...